The biker team of the police Rijssen-Holten, the Netherlands, has recently started to drive with a camera on their helmet. The images are crystal clear, even in the twilight. With the spying digital eye the department has the Dutch scoop.The camera is only used during threatening situations and calamities, like fights. The police also uses the images to show parents what their kids are up to.
A recording shows a young man who was kicked out of the local disco for misbehavior last weekend. While the notified police-biker – with rolling camera – calls for order, it shows in detail how the visitor freaks and gets taken in. In a special meeting with mayor and district attorney agreements have been made regarding the registration. “The images can serve as evidence”, chief Harry Sjoers of the police in Rijssen-Holten says. The first case in which a mobile police camera plays a part has yet to come.
The costs, 1000 euros per camera, have been paid by the county. The box, with a memory card for 2.5 hours of recording, fits into the breast pocket of a shirt. With a press of a button, recordings are made. The lens is clearly visible on the helmet. Yet Sjoers knows that most people don’t even know they’re being filmed. Most think there’s a lamp on the helmet.
Future Vision by Erwin Van Lun on this article
Brands register their interaction with consumers, with members and – indeed – with citizens. They save the transaction data, emails, more and more often phone conversations, and now also video interaction. Later on this won’t be just the police, but every brand. It might feel really awful, but we’ll start to call it handy. It lets us check exactly what’s been recorded about us and react to it, sometimes even adapt it through the brand’s website. Ever saw something in a store, checked it out, walked away, forgot about it and then though “Gee, where’d I see that again?” A retail brand can then automatically interpret the images for you and tell you exactly when you looked at something or tried something. This is how the brand memory is brought to life and supports the dialogue. This is a step in that direction.